Aston Villa welcome high-flying Manchester United to Villa Park on Wednesday evening and the Red Devils are expected to pose a stern test for the Champions League qualifying pretenders.

Martin O'Neill's men sit in seventh place in the Premier League table but are just three points from a top-four berth.

A win against Sir Alex Ferguson's men would give them a massive lift as they enter a crucial period of the season.

However, United are in fine form after winning their previous four league fixtures in emphatic fashion. Burnley were on the end of a 3-0 hammering before a four-goal salvo from Wayne Rooney mauled Hull City 4-0.

Arsenal were defeated 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium and, on Saturday, the Reds crushed basement-boys Portsmouth 5-0 at Old Trafford.

They briefly returned to the top of the pile following the weekend win but Chelsea's victory against Arsenal knocked them off their perch and they sit two points behind Carlo Ancelotti's men.

With United's recent form, Villa will need to be on their guard but they are in fine form themselves.

January proved to be a fantastic month for the Midlands side as they remained unbeaten in their seven games in all competitions.

At the weekend they secured a commendable goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur as they once again proved their worth at the top end of the table.

Villa beat United at Old Trafford earlier in the season with Gabriel Agbonlahor nodding in Ashley Young's pin-point centre to seal the three points and they should use this as their inspiration this time around.

However, O'Neill is without the services of Stephen Warnock (calf) and Nigel Reo-Coker (ankle) while the visitors may welcome back commanding defender Nemanja Vidic, who has been nursing a calf injury.